Contents

Life and career

Beginnings

Born as Kim Young-kwang in Incheon, South Korea, Kim's father was a veteran of the Vietnam War and died when Kim was in the sixth grade. Kim's family struggled financially and it was rumoured that, at a young age, he worked at a gas station and delivered newspapers to help relieve the financial burden.
In 2007 when he was 19 years old, he received an opportunity to become a model for an advertisement which later opened doors for him to become a runway model. In 2008, he was the first Asian model to walk Dior Homme's show. He received the Best New Model Award of the Korea Fashion Photographers Association. In 2009, he received three awards from Asia Model Festival Awards, Korea Tourism Organisation and Style Icon Awards.[2]

Acting

Though he began acting in 2008, his role in the drama Good Doctor on KBS2 made him known to audiences.[3]

His breakout year was 2014, with bigger roles in dramas such as tvN's Plus Nine Boys[6] and SBS's Pinocchio,[7] which shot him to fame and earned him a SBS Drama Award as "New Star" for his role as Seo Beom-jo.[8]

On December 12, 2013, Kim began his mandatory military service. However, he was only required to be enlisted for six months as a public service soldier due to his father being a Vietnam War veteran, as well as an acknowledged person of national merit. Kim was discharged in June 2014.[26]